November 7, 2014

Winged Blog Tour...Improv Quilted Pot Holders

Today I'm excited to take part in Bonnie Christine's WingedBlog Tour. Bonnie is a fabric designer and I've just fallen head over heels for all of her lines. If you follow along on my blog, the Honeybee fabric I used for my Catherine quilt is from Bonnie also. I finally finished her and will be sharing photos soon. For today I created some whimsical pot holders that I plan to give as Christmas gifts along with some note cards.

Bonnie sent me these four fabric fat quarters and I just love how her lines are mixy matchy but coordinate so beautifully. You can definitely choose fabrics from just this one line and get a really fun project going. Bonnie was inspired by the first butterfly sightings of Spring for this line. It evokes a new season, warmer weather and fresh blooms. I think these fabrics will be perfect for my potholders come Spring time when we're all ready to be over with the holidays and cook something fresh and new.

First, let me tell you that my process photos are a little wonky. I like to work first thing in the morning when the light is bright so it wasn't the best timing for taking photographs. But I wanted you to see my process so here goes. I knew I wanted to cut out the butterflies and make them the center focal point of my potholders.

Next I trimmed fabric pieces from the other fat quarters. No measuring, I just started cutting. I used the improv style of quilting to create my pot holder fronts. It's kind of like a wonky log cabin....there are no precise measurements. Just keep cutting a piece, sewing it on, trimming and then continue on.

Here's four of my pieces all cut and ready to sew. I kept my potholders at a finished size of 8.5" so I just kept adding on fabric until I had a size big enough to trim to a 8.5" square.

Here's my pot holder tops all sewn and pressed. This is a great project for beginning quilters because you don't have to measure or be precise. I am an experienced sewer and I like it because....well, you don't have to measure or be precise. :)

For the backing and batting I used all natural materials. You don't want a polyester or some fabric that will melt when a hot pan is set on the potholder. For my backing I used some fabrics from my stash. For the batting I love to use Warm & Natural quilt batting. I find it at JoAnn's and use a coupon when I need some. It's all cotton and is fluffy and soft. It makes the warmest quilts ever. I had some large pieces leftover so I trimmed some out for my potholders. I've also used old cutter quilts or layers of old flannels for the batting. It's nice to have some thickness especially if you cook with heavy pots or cast iron.

I sandwiched all my layers together and made some edge binding out of some fabric from my stash.

To keep the fabric from shifting when washed or with extended use, I just top stitched over the butterfly squares. This added a little poofy quilted look too.

I hope you enjoyed my project today. This is a great blog tour and I've enjoyed Bonnie's previous blog hops so much. Be sure to check out Bonnie's cute project from yesterday and then hop over to May Chappell's blog on Monday for another inspiring post. There are 31 wonderful days to this blog tour so don't miss out. Thanks for stopping by.